(i) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a blowing device, and an image forming apparatus.
(ii) Related Art
In image forming apparatuses that form an image constituted by a developer on a recording sheet, for example, there is an image forming apparatus using a corona discharge device that performs corona discharge in the process of charging a latent image holding body, such as a photoconductor, or the process of neutralization, the process of transferring an unfixed image to the recording sheet, or the like.
Additionally, in the corona discharge device, in order to prevent unnecessary substances, such as paper debris or a discharge product, from adhering to component parts, such as a discharging wire or a grid electrode, a blowing device that blows air against component parts may be provided together. The blowing device in this case is generally constituted by a blower that sends air, and a duct (blower pipe) that guides and sends out the air sent from the blower up to a target structure, such as a corona discharge device.
In the related art, various improvements for enabling air to be uniformly blown in the longitudinal direction of the component parts, such as a discharging wire, are performed on the blowing device or the like. Particularly, as such a blowing device or the like, there are proposed the following blowing devices that adopt a configuration in which the shape of a passage space of a duct through which air flows is formed in a special shape or a configuration in which a straightening plate or the like that adjusts a direction in which air flows is disposed in the passage space of the duct, or the like.